Tag Archives: Russell Malone

For master guitarist Russell Malone’s 55th birthday, here’s a feature profile that I wrote about him in the fall 2016 issue of Jazziz, and the proceedings of a Blindfold Test that we did for Downbeat in 2004.

Russell Malone, Jazziz, 2016:

Before settling into the formalities of an interview in the kitchen of his Jersey City row house, Russell Malone, Southerner that he is, decided to feed his guest. First he prepared ginger lemonade, a 20-minute procedure that included eight squeezed lemons, a lot of ginger, and agave for sweetener. Then Malone shaved daikon, cooked sushi rice infused with butter, fixed a ponzu sauce, seared some pea-shoot greens with garlic and, finally, broiled two slabs of salmon.

Malone worked methodically, washing and drying the dishes and utensils after each stage of the process. He was dressed well — cream-colored linen slacks; a forest green shirt from Thailand with gold brocading, untucked — but didn’t wear an apron. We spoke as he cooked, and continued to speak as we ate lunch, trading opinions and scurrilous gossip, discussing family and mutual acquaintances. Ninety minutes later, it almost seemed a shame to turn on the digital voice recorder.

The subject at hand was Malone’s spring release, All About Melody (High Note), on which the 53-year-old guitarist and his quartet — pianist Rick Germanson, bassist Luke Sellick and drummer Willie Jones III — address an American Songbook ballad; two American Soulbook torch songs; a spiritual; and originals by jazz icons Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Heath, Bob Brookmeyer, Bill Lee and Sonny Rollins. Malone also presents his own ballad, “Message to Jim Hall,” directly followed by a brief voicemail from the late iconic guitarist.

Neither notions of high concept nor narrative arc inform the program, Malone says, not even his decision to follow his dedication to Hall, who famously played on several early-’60s recordings by Rollins, with Rollins’ “Nice Lady,” which Malone learned while touring with the saxophonist in 2010. “Those songs are fun to play,” he says. “When I make a record, I want the songs to flow naturally, to hold your attention, just like playing a set in a club.” He affirmed his close friendship with Hall. “Jim would call to tell you how he felt about you,” Malone says. “He was big on taking the time, effort and thought to write a letter, get the stamp, put it on the envelope, and mail it. I have a stack of his handwritten letters. I didn’t get around to writing Jim a letter, but I did get around to writing that tune for him.”

For a unifying thread, Malone suggested the title, edited from HighNote proprietor Joe Fields’ suggestion, “It’s All About the Melody,” which, he says, seemed too preachy and dogmatic.“This could have titled any of my other records, because that’s always been my attitude,” Malone says, before fleshing out the core aesthetic principle that infuses his previous 11 leader recordings since 1992 and numerous sideman or collaborative appearances with — to name a roughly chronological short list — Jimmy Smith, Harry Connick, Diana Krall, Benny Green and Christian McBride, Ray Brown, Dianne Reeves, Ron Carter and Rollins.

“I’m as influenced by singers as by instrumentalists, and whenever I learn a song, particularly a standard or a ballad, I listen to a vocalist’s rendition,” he says. “I want to learn not just the harmonic structure, but the story, the lyrics — everything. Those things go through my head when I play them. I try to sing through my instrument.”

In that regard, Malone mentions his unaccompanied reading of Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman,” which he heard growing up in Albany, Georgia. “If you noticed, I only played the melody,” he says. “Sometimes a strong melody, good changes and a good story is enough. That’s my thing these days.”

Malone adhered unstintingly to this stated criteria for song selection and play-your-feelings interpretation on both All About Melody and its 2014 HighNote predecessor, Love Looks Good On You. The latter date transpired four years after Triple Play, a trio recital that was Malone’s only studio recording during a six-year, four-CD run with MaxJazz, a fine boutique label that ceased operations after the death of its owner, Richard McDonnell.

“I was working so much, it wasn’t a priority to do a record if nobody would get behind it,” Malone explains. Several labels suggested he join their roster, but none followed up. “My attitude was: Your loss; if you ignore me, I’ll keep forging ahead. Then Joe Fields contacted me. People who’ve worked with him told me he’d support the records. Joe seemed to be the only guy interested in someone who plays like I do.”

He referenced the phrase “interview music,” coined by pianist Mulgrew Miller, Malone’s dear friend and colleague from before the guitarist moved to New York from Atlanta in the late ’80s until Miller died in 2013. “Certain musicians talk a good game, and sound deep and interesting, and it gets over,” Malone says. “But writers don’t consider people who play like me as cutting edge. Players who adopt a Eurocentric perspective — devoid of melody, swinging, blues and, heaven forbid, any black elements — are described as pushing the music forward. That’s complete bullshit to me.”

He recalled a brunch gig with organist Trudy Pitts in Philadelphia around 1990, playing tunes for “older people who wanted to hear some melodies.” One of Malone’s core influences, Kenny Burrell, working in town, was in the house. So were a group of college students. “Whenever I played something a little outside or rebellious to what was going on, these kids went, ‘Yeah, man — whoo-oo!’ Instead of thinking about the music, I started to think about impressing them with my crazy, dissonant shit.”

After the set, the admirers offered compliments: “Yeah, you were really pushing the envelope; you’re taking it out.” Malone thanked them, proceeded to Burrell’s table, and sat down. Malone recounts: “I had the nerve to say, ‘Hey, Mr. Burrell, you hear what I’m working on?’ He put his arm around me, and started chastising me like I was his son. He told me that what I’d played may have worked well in another situation, but it didn’t work here. You have to play what the situation calls for, which means allowing yourself to be vulnerable. Any time you’re playing to prove something, it’s not honest. I never forgot that. And I never did that again.”

[BREAK]

“I am flexible,” Malone says. “I take pride on being open enough to play with anybody.” He’s played “Moon River” and “The Christmas Song” with Andy Williams on The Mike Huckabee Show. He’s shared stages with B.B. King, Aretha Franklin and Natalie Cole; channeled the pioneering electric guitarist Eddie Durham in Robert Altman’s Kansas City; played the blues with Clarence Carter and raised a joyful noise with the Gospel Keynotes. He’s played high-level chamber jazz with Ron Carter and supported Dianne Reeves in a two-guitar format with Romero Lubambo. He’s rehearsed outcat projects with Bill Frisell and James “Blood” Ulmer. He visited Ornette Coleman’s loft once for a marathon of shedding.

Malone grew up in a Pentecostal church, where he discovered the guitar. He traces his openness to the experience of playing it there from age 6 to 18. “It fascinated me how these church mothers singing spirituals would move people to tears, or to get the Holy Ghost and shout in response,” he says. “That’s when I started to really listen — the singers might start singing in any key, and not always at the same time, so I learned to be flexible throughout the guitar neck.”

As he entered his teens, Malone memorized his first guitar solo from Howard Carroll of the Dixie Hummingbirds, had “epiphanies” from B.B. King and from “country” guitarists like Chet Atkins and Merle Travis on Glen Campbell’s TV show. In 1975, “on a school night when I should have been in bed,” he saw George Benson play “incredible things” on “Seven Comes Eleven” on a PBS homage to John Hammond “that let me know there was a whole other level to aspire to.” Malone soon purchased The George Benson Cookbook and the double-LP Benson Burner. “A gentleman in my church who played guitar noticed that I was trying to play this stuff,” he continues. “He liked Wes Montgomery, and he laid Smokin’ At the Half Note and Boss Guitar on me. Those four records set me on a course that I have not deviated from.”

That course followed autodidactic pathways. “I had enough sense to know that something triggered George Benson’s interest in playing guitar like that,” Malone says. “I read that George was influenced by Charlie Christian, then that Charlie Christian was influenced by Eddie Durham and Lester Young, and had influenced Johnny Smith, Barney Kessel, Tal Farlow and so on. I didn’t have skills to write anything down, and I never transcribed a solo. I like the way I learned because I trust my ears. I’d pick things up and remember them.” He sought advice from lesser players who understood theory, as, for example, when he saw “Misty” in the Real Book, spotted an E-flat-major-VII chord, and asked a roommate to play it. “I said, ‘Oh, that’s what I’ve been playing all along.’ From there, I learned how to identify what I saw on paper. I still ask questions.”

After garnering experience on chitlin’ circuit revues that included Bobby Rush and Johnnie Taylor, Malone spent much of 1983 in Houston with Hammond B3 practitioner Al Rylander. In 1985, just before he turned 22, he moved to Atlanta, where he quickly established bona fides on transitory engagements with Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, Little Anthony, Peabo Bryson and O.C. Smith. In 1986, he joined Freddy Cole, who offered a master class in the nuances of blending with a singer before firing Malone after several months because, the guitarist recalls, “I wasn’t there yet.”

Malone first visited New York in 1985. He promptly received a lecture on the virtues of sonic individualism from bassist Lonnie Plaxico after they played “Stablemates” at Barry Harris’ Jazz Cultural Theater. “I respected Lonnie, because he’d played with Art Blakey and Dexter Gordon,” Malone says. “He asked where I was from. He said, ‘Yeah, you’ve got good tone, good feeling, and you really hear those changes.’ Then he said, ‘I hear that you like Wes and George and all those guys. You might be able to get away with playing like them in Atlanta, but not here. Those guys were able to break through because they didn’t come here trying to sound like somebody else. They had their own thing, and people eventually caught on.’”

Two years later, Jimmy Smith took an Atlanta engagement, and invited the local hero to sit in for a blues, “The Sermon.” “After the head, I played all my pet licks and generated some superficial excitement,” Malone says. “Then Jimmy went into a ballad, ‘Laura,’ which I didn’t know. You can’t just hear your way through it, because it moves harmonically, with a lot of twists and turns. That’s when I found out I wasn’t nearly as good as I thought. After he’d finished embarrassing me, Jimmy got on the microphone and said, ‘Whenever youngsters sit in with us, we like to make sure they learn something.’ He looked at me. ‘Now, did you learn something, young man?’”

After that set, Malone approached Smith at the bar to thank him for the opportunity. Smith, a black belt, turned and stuck his index finger in Malone’s solar plexus. “Let me tell you something,” Smith said, finger still in place. “I knew all those guys you’re trying to play like, and I also taught them. Don’t ever get on my bandstand with that bullshit again.” Then he invited Malone to his hotel room to play for him, telling the youngster about his life and experiences until 6:30 in morning. A year later, Smith hired Malone for his Southern and Midwestern tours.

“I’ve been around a lot of the older guys,” Malone says, reflecting on a cohort of associations that includes Smith, Rollins, Hall and Ron Carter. Another mentor was guitarist John Collins, who replaced Oscar Moore with the Nat King Cole Trio after quality time with, among others, Fletcher Henderson and Art Tatum. “John saw Andrés Segovia when he was a serviceman in World War Two, and remembered that he played the whole guitar, compared to young guitar players who focus on single lines like a horn player,” Malone says. “There’s nothing wrong with that, but you’re selling the instrument short. In the right hands, it can function as an orchestra. I never forgot that.”

He cited an encomium from Benny Carter, who was 94 when he heard Malone play his “All About You” on Marion McPartland’s Piano Jazz. “Benny told me he liked the way I treated ballads and my own songs because I respect the melody and don’t treat them like blowing vehicles,” Malone says. Dr. Billy Taylor — who himself sat at the feet of Willie “The Lion” Smith, Duke Ellington and Art Tatum during formative years — learned Malone had been spending quality time with Carter. He said: “You’ve been around the real guys, doing it the right way, the way we did it coming up. You know what’s up. Nobody can come along and bullshit you.”

Perhaps the accumulated weight of these validations helps Malone sustain philosophical equanimity in processing the inequities he discerns as he approaches his own elder statesman years. “I meant what I said about critics who have racist agendas and jump on things that are devoid of ethnic elements,” he says. “But my attitude now is that what anyone decides to play ain’t my damn business. I’m just trying to play good music, what feels right, and at the end of the day, I have to take responsibility for what I do. When I hung out with Ornette and Blood, I wasn’t concerned about trying to push the envelope. I was looking for a different musical experience. I’m not going to change who I am. I don’t classify my favorite musicians, like Hank Jones, as ‘modern.’ I steer away from that word. I see them as timeless. That’s how I want to be.”

SIDEBAR

“It’s all in the hands,” is all Russell Malone will say about his plush, full-bodied, instantly recognizable tone. “Everybody hears their sound in their head, no matter how old they are. I just heard a recording of me with a gospel group when I was 16. It sounds like me — the feel and everything else. You refine the nuances and subtleties over time, but it’s going to still sound like you.”

He points to a Gibson Super-400 standing by an armchair in his living room. “Kenny is the reason I play that guitar,” he says. “Just before I joined Jimmy Smith, he did a concert in Atlanta. He needed a Twin amplifier, and I had an old one, so I brought it for him to play his Super 400 through. I decided that if I ever made some money, I’d get one.

“I modeled my sound after him, Jim Hall and Mundell Lowe. They get this big, beautiful, round sound, where you can still hear the wood. Kenny picks great notes, plays great tunes. He also sings. Great composer. Master musician.”

Malone continues: “What attracted me to George Benson was the drive in his playing. He showed us that you can be a great musician and still be successful. That whole thing about being a starving artist never worked for him. It never worked for me either. I think we all sound better when our bills are paid and when our bellies are full. A lot of people have disparaged George for ‘selling out.’ That’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard. The way I look at it, he cashed in on his talent.”

On a previous occasion, Malone had offered a list of guitar heroes that also included Chet Atkins, George Van Eps, Johnny Smith, Pat Martino and Wes Montgomery. “I love everyone on that list, but Wes really sets my soul on fire,” he says. “I’ve loved every record I’ve heard by Wes Montgomery. He never played a bad note. Always got a good sound, good taste, and swung all the time.” —TP

This is a Wes Montgomery tune, Fried Pies. It’s two guitar players. This guitar player, whoever he is, is playing with his thumb, and he doesn’t seem to have good control. It would lay in the pocket better if he played it with a pick, I think. I have no idea who this is. I mean, this is just okay. It’s funny when you play a tune like this, that’s already been done right once. I almost never play songs by my heroes, because unless you can bring something to the table that’s equally as good or better than, what’s the point of playing it. Now the second guitarist is playing it. He sounds good. He seems to be more in the pocket than the other player. He’s got some fire, too. I like the bass player and the drummer; they’re locking up very nicely. Is that Kevin Eubanks? Ah!!! Ha-ha! Yeah! Now, that makes sense. This record was done about ten years ago, right? Was that other guitar player William Ash? I have no idea who the other player was, but I recognized Kevin immediately. There’s a certain way he attacks the notes. He’s not playing with the pick, he’s playing with his fingers, but he has a certain attack. That’s the reason why I was able to distinguish him. He plays very nicely. 4 stars for the bass player and drummer, because they really locked in well. Hell, 5 stars for Kevin. The other guitar player played nicely enough, but I would have liked it more if he’d been in the pocket. 3 stars for him. I’ll give the piece 3 stars. [AFTER] That was Ted Dunbar? Wow! I loved Ted. I never got to meet him. I talked to him on the phone a couple of times. I heard Ted play before, and he could definitely play better than this.

This is nice. Is that John Abercrombie? I have no idea who it is, but he plays very nicely. He has a nice touch. The sound of the organ threw me in the beginning, because it sounded like one of those cute Farfisas or Wurlitzer, but now it sounds rich. Boy, this guitar player is killing! Oh, that’s Jonathan Kreisberg! So that must be Gary Versace on organ. I can’t remember the drummer’s name, but I think he plays with Jonathan every week. Jonathan’s a good friend of mine. Wonderful player. I’ve gone to see him a few times and listened to him, and once you become familiar with a person, you become accustomed to what they sound like. Everybody has a sound. Jonathan is younger than I am; I think he’s in his early thirties. I hear a lot of people talk about young guys don’t have a sound, which I think is total bullshit. Everybody has a sound, everybody has a voice; it just depends on how familiar you are with that person. If you listen to a person enough, then you will be able to distinguish it. That’s how I was able to distinguish Kevin on the previous thing you played me, and this is how I was able to distinguish Jonathan. There are certain things you key in on. Here it’s Jonathan’s sound and the ideas that he plays, and his touch. I love this tune, Gone With the Wind. I like that they took an old standard, and did something different with it. It sounds like they’re playing it in 6/4. Jonathan has chops in abundance, and one thing I like about his solo is that he really took his time and said something beautiful on the tune. Guys with that kind of ability to play whatever they want on the instrument sometimes have a tendency to overstate. But he didn’t do that, and I appreciate that approach. 4 stars for Jonathan.

Man, this sounds like some of the sanctified music that I grew up hearing in my church. Oh, this is grooving. Is it Derek Trucks? Wow! I LIKE this cat, whoever he is. See, this is one of the things that guitar can do. It can bend notes, it can wail, it can cry. Whoo, man! Now, this was fine until the horn player started to play. He’s probably a bad cat, but he’s not really adding anything to this performance. Is it Bill Frisell? Oh, this is Folsom Prison Blues? The Johnny Cash tune. I didn’t recognize it without the lyrics. The guitar player, whoever he is, he just got right to the heart of the matter. But the horn player, though he’s probably a great musician, listening to him play is kind of like eating crabs. You’ve got to go through so much to get so little. He’s not really doing it for me. But the guitar player got right to the heart of the matter. Mark Ribot! It’s not Mark Ribot? Dammit. I give up. Joel Harrison? I’ve never heard of him. I’m going to go out and get some Joel Harrison records, man. That’s one of the ways I like to hear guitar played. Because the guitar is such an expressive instrument. It can do so many things, man. That’s going into the CD collection. Joel Harrison. 5 stars. I loved him. I’ve seen Dave Binney’s name, but I don’t know him. I like the bass player and the drummer. I like the whole band. Oh, I know Allison Miller. She’s great!

Whoever this is, I hear a very strong George Benson influence. The tune is Summertime. Rodney Jones. Which record is this from? Soul Manifesto Live? Okay. This is just okay. I’d like to have heard him pay closer attention to the melody. This is a personal thing with me. What he’s playing is great. That tune has such a beautiful melody. I’d like to hear a little less embellishment of the melody. It’s a little bit too much guitar for me. Now, Rodney’s bad. I’ve heard him play a lot more musically than this. It doesn’t do it for me. I love Rodney; he’s one of my best friends and one of my favorite guitarists, but I don’t feel this. I’ve heard him play a lot better. 2½ stars.

Mike Stern? No? Okay. Oh, I like the dissonance. The guitarist sounds like he’s picking close to the bridge. It sounds like he’s playing one of those solid body guitars. That’s cool. That doesn’t offend me at all. Mick Goodrick. It’s not Mick Goodrick? Ah, that’s Jim Hall. [LAUGHS] Yeah, go ahead, Jim! That’s Geoff Keezer. I heard them play this tune at the Vanguard when they played there a couple of years ago. These are two of my favorite musicians. Geoff Keezer is one of the greatest piano players walking the planet today. He can do anything; he’s so versatile. What can you say about Jim? He’s a magician. He’s like a magician that makes the rabbit pull him out of the hat! Wouldn’t that be something to go see a magician, and then the rabbit pulls him out of the hat. That’s the way I see Jim. He’s such a quirky, unorthodox kind of guy, but he’s always musical. Never anything for the sake of being different. Everything that he plays and does has a purpose. One of my favorite things about him is that there’s so much beauty in his playing. Most guitar players go for the jugular vein, and that’s okay to do, too. But Jim Hall showed us that it’s okay to go for the G-spot, too. 5 stars. Give Jim Hall the Milky Way. In the beginning I said Mike Stern and Mick Goodrick, but even though I was wrong I wasn’t too far off-base, because I know Jim Hall has influenced both of those players. What threw me in the beginning was that Jim was picking towards the bridge, and when you do that, it makes the tone of the guitar thinner, more brittle, and that’s not how I’m used to hearing Jim. But what gave it away was just the touch and the ideas.

I like this. Really thick harmony. Thick chords. Is that a bass clarinet? Is it Adam Holdsworth? Nels Cline? Oh, wait a minute. Dave Fiuczynski. No? Okay. Damn. Whoever he is, he’s a heck of a player. I like it. Whoo! Ben Monder. Not Ben? It sounds spacious. It’s out there, but there’s a groove. I mean, you can pat your foot. It sounds good and it feels good. Is he European? [Yes.] This is good. I think I would appreciate this better if I was listening to these guys play live. After a while, it all starts to sound the same. There was some stuff that moved in certain spots, but now it’s going on and on and on. It doesn’t really do anything for me. But I liked what led up to this. I have no idea who the guitarist is. 3 stars. There’s no denying the ability. Everybody can play. That cannot be denied. Nguyen Le? I’ve heard him. He’s good! I’ve been meaning to check out more of him. I have nothing but respect for him, but as far as this performance, I’d appreciate it more if I was sitting there listening to them. I have some homework to do. There’s so much stuff out there. I’ve seen this guy’s name, and I have heard him play and I liked what I heard. What I heard by him was acoustic, and it was beautiful.

I like this. He’s getting some very beautiful colors out of the instrument. Nice voicings. Is that Ben Monder? No. I like Ben. “My Man’s Gone Now,” a Gershwin tune. This is really pretty. Is that Paul Motian on drums? Is this Frisell? Aha. He does a lot of different things. He does a lot of things with swells and he uses effects. You never know what kind of bag he’s going to come out of. Oh, yeah! He’s a very wonderful musician, and he’s a very nice guy, too. I have to be honest with you. For a while, I had a problem with listening to guys like Bill Frisell and Metheny and Scofield, a lot of the white players. Not because they were bad musicians. It’s just that whenever white writers would write about these guys, I always got the feeling that they were making them out to be superior to a lot of the black players. So for a long time, I didn’t listen to these kinds of players, but after having met them, I found out that they don’t think like that at all. These are very nice men and they’re great musicians. 3 stars. This was very good. I like listening to things like this, but after a while I like to hear some time. I like to hear guys deal with time. But Frisell is great. He’s a wonderful musician. But for a while I didn’t want to hear guys like that, because of the way certain writers would write about them. But having met them, I know that they don’t think like that at all. These are very soulful guys. They’re just about the music.

I like this. This is home here. This is where I live. Whoever this guy is, he likes B.B. King. That’s not B.B., is it? But he likes B.B., whoever he is. I know some critics might look upon this kind of thing as being dated and predictable and not pushing the music forward and whatever, but I NEVER get tired of this, man. The blues, man. To me, jazz needs that. I have no idea who this guy is, but give him the Milky Way, too, whoever the hell he is. I love this. I love the band. I love the way they’re locking in together. This is great. He’s not playing anything slick or fancy, but it makes sense, it works, and it sounds great. Oh, yes, yes, YES! Oh, yeah. Cornell Dupree? Calvin Newborn! Know how I knew? The touch! That’s what I’m talking about. All the stars in the universe. I’m very suspicious… You’ve played some great stuff today. But I read about a lot of players who the critics write about as players who are pushing the envelope or players who are breaking away from the tradition. I’m very suspicious about players who are described that way, because to me, all it means is that they deleted all of the ethnic elements out of the music—or the black elements out of the music. Players who adopt a Eurocentric perspective seem to be the ones who are described as pushing the music forward. I mean, I know the music has to move forward and everything, but come on, man. If you don’t have this, you got nothing. You might have something else, but you need those ethnic elements to have jazz, man. Some people may disagree with me, but that’s just the way I feel. Right on, Calvin Newborn. Bend those notes. Play that blues. [LAUGHS] Yeah! That’s how I feel about that one. Listening to him… I got the same feeling as I got when Joel Harrison played. I don’t care what color he is. I’m sure he’s white. But he is not afraid to acknowledge the blues, those black elements. He’s a brave white man who is not afraid to acknowledge that in his playing. My hat’s off to him.

This is just okay. Whenever I hear people play solo guitar, especially on the nylon string, I like to hear a lot less sloppiness. I don’t mean to sound like I’m nitpicking. I know it sounds like I am. But I have to tell you how I feel. This is a little sloppy for my taste. This doesn’t really go anywhere. If there is a melody, it’s damn near nonexistent. The tune is weak and I think it’s poorly played. I have no idea who this is. Whoever he is, it’s probably a legend. But this is a pretty poor performance. Is it Barney Kessel? Well, I don’t know if he did anything on the nylon string anyway. Bad guess. Bill Harris? He’s a guitarist who lived in D.C. who did some things on the nylon string guitar. No, this is not good. 1star. That’s Baden Powell? That’s surprising, because I’ve heard him play. I feel really bad that I don’t like this, because I love Baden Powell. He’s a monster player. I love the way he plays. But this is not a good performance. I’ve heard him play on other things, and the touch is a little more delicate than this.

This is a catchy tune. The band is swinging. Is this Too High? Yeah. That’s a Stevie Wonder tune. This is nice. They put a lot of thought into this. I have no idea who the guitar player is. Now, the guitar player has got some chops. Once again, a very strong Benson influence. George is all over the place. Is it Paul Bollenback? Okay. [LAUGHS] I know his ideas and his touch. Very nice arrangement. He put some thought into this. It’s very well played. Is that Joey on organ? Byron Landham on drums? Billy Hart? Whoever he is, he’s really locking in, man. He’s swinging, laying that pocket down. That’s Tain? Whoa! That doesn’t surprise me. He played on my all-ballad record, Heartstrings, and Tain, man… He’s got the whole history of the drums. There are a lot of young drummers coming up nowadays who are influenced by him, but I don’t think they’ve really checked out what makes Jeff Watts, Jeff Watts. He’s got Kenny Clarke, he’s got Baby Dodds, he’s got Elvin, he’s got Tony—he’s got everything. And he’s incorporated all of these influences and came up with his own thing. Yeah! 4 stars. With Tain, swinging is not an afterthought. Whatever wild and crazy things he does, it’s all rooted in swing. It’s all about that groove. It’s never an afterthought for him.

Kurt Rosenwinkel. That’s Kurt! He’ s a great musician. I have a lot of respect for him. He’s always very musical. I have quite a few of his records around here. He’s a wonderful musician. Plays the piano. Knows the instrument and the history of the music. I have a lot of respect for him. He’s a phenomenal player. That’s his latest release on Verve, Deep Song. I have it. That’s the beauty of being in New York. You have so many different types of musicians here. So many different types of music to take advantage of. I always tell young players when they come here, don’t just get locked into one thing. You may have your taste and your preferences, but go out and hear all kinds of different things. Go out and hear these different kinds of players, because you may find something you’re able to use. That’s why I love being in the city, because I get to hear all kinds of players on any given night. 4 stars.

I love the feel of this piece. It reminds me a little bit of something from sort of semi Sonny Sharrock, but not really. It could be one of these Albert Ayler tunes or something like that, something in that vein. It sounds like somebody who’s playing with their thumb a little bit, but it’s not Wes! It doesn’t really sound like him, I didn’t know he played anything this out, but it could be… Could it be Kevin Eubanks? It sounds too harmonically oriented to be Sonny Sharrock, but that was still my first take on it. It still could even be somebody like that, but… James Blood? Wow! This is great. I don’t know that tune. I have to get this. I’ve heard some other stuff by Blood and I liked it. I have some of this stuff where he was singing that I enjoyed, but I’ll have to get this. This definitely sounds very hip to me. Very open. And it’s kind of funny; that’s why I thought it was Sonny Sharrock, because of some of the similarities. He sounds to me more harmonic. I hear more harmonic information in his playing. It’s cool. And I think he does sort of play with his thumb a little bit, because it’s got a little bit of that feel. It’s plucky. He chokes the notes a little bit, so it… I’ll give this 5 stars. I still like it. [AFTER] Now that you tell me it was Rashied Ali, it makes total sense, because I played with him once, and he has a great way of playing a sort of open music. you really feel like they’re playing on a form or something. It really has a great swing, a pulse to it. It’s not just free. I think that’s what makes it work. That’s what makes everything sound so great.

An acoustic guitar. Two players or it’s overdubbed. I hear other parts. That first part with just the guitar overdubs was just impeccable technique, whoever it is. I mean, it’s almost perfect technically. But I can’t tell from that who it is. I might know, not by the content of what he’s playing, but just somebody playing the guitar that well. This sounds like a Spanish Classical piece. I’ll make a stab. It’s not that guy Fareed Haque, is it? Fareed is so technically proficient, that that’s what this kind of reminded me of. The little bit I’ve heard him play Classical stuff, he has that kind of flawless technique. I like it. The beginning was beautiful, and this has a nice rhythm feel. The approach of the guitar player… It sounds like everything’s almost kind of written, or it’s things you would include in a Classical or a Flamenco technique. But it’s not a famous Flamenco player, I don’t think. Now you’ve piqued my interest. It’s not Paco, is it? I’ve heard Paco do things that are kind of like this, with hand drums and of course that kind of technique is akin to a Flamenco player. So it’s definitely somebody Spanish. I can’t guess. It’s very nice, but I can’t figure out who it is. I’ll give it 4 stars for the really great feel. Flawless guitar technique. Wow.

The bass player almost sounds like it could be Dave Holland, playing one of his little… But it’s probably not. The only reason I mentioned Dave Holland (and I don’t think it’s Dave) is because I’ve played little pieces with Dave where it has this kind of feel. Dave writes some of these little Indianesque-sounding, Arabian… The bass player does sound like he has some of Dave’s rhythmic concept, but I don’t know who… [Why don’t you think it’s Dave?] I don’t know. I have to listen more. I have to hear him solo to really know. [Can you glean anything from the guitar player?] I’m not gleaning well right now. It’s someone who’s Dave-like, but I don’t think it’s Dave. The sound is not quite what I’m used to hearing; Dave has a bigger sound. But then, he could be recorded differently. And Dave usually sounds a little punchier. And also Dave has certain rhythmic phrases that he does, because I’ve played with him so much, and I didn’t hear any of those. But it does have an aura of that. It’s Dave? Wow. The guitar sounds like a 12-string. I thought maybe it was Gismonti playing the 12-string, but I don’t think he and Dave ever played together. But the opening thing didn’t sound anything like something Gismonti would play. That sounded more jazzy. This is definitely somebody who’s a jazz player of sorts. I know it’s not Ralph Towner, because it’s not good enough to be Ralph Towner playing 12-string. [LAUGHS] It’s good, but it’s not like what Ralph would play. I don’t know if he started out on this instrument. Did he change… No, there it is. It’s all the same instrument. I’m not going to get it. Can you give me a hint? [You’re going to feel bad if you don’t know who it is.] Oh, I think I know who it is now. See, that’s all you had to say. It’s Jim. This sounds so different than what I’m used to hearing Jim play. Harmonically and rhythmically, some of the chords… Now it does make sense that it’s Jim to me. But at first it didn’t. Maybe I still have Blood’s music in my head. Because the opening, the first reading of the opening sounded a little Delta-like. I got Dave, though. I was pretty sure. This is that album where Jim plays all the different duets. I haven’t heard it. Not that I have to, but I’ve never heard Jim play a 12-string guitar. It’s not the instrument he normally would play. It’s not the most interesting thing I’ve heard Jim do, but it’s still good, and I needed a hint from you to actually figure out who it was, although I was pretty good about Dave. 3-1/2 stars. I think if I had heard him play on an electric guitar, with his more rounded tone and the tone I’m used to, playing a similar thing, I would have probably nailed it. But like you said, it was hearing him play that instrument.

That’s a different instrument, too. That’s either a 12-string or a tres. A tres. I got it. That’s not Arsenio Rodriguez, is it? I love this stuff. The main reason I know about him, when I used to work years ago in a band called Dreams, was a trombone player who passed away named Barry Rogers, and Barry’s second instrument was the tres. He used to play trombone and tres with a lot of the Latin bands, and he played me some Arsenio Rodriguez and said this was the cat. This is more in the context of a rhythm section, but the bass player is very strongly prominent here, too. This sounds not unlike the duet with Jim Hall and Dave Holland, in a strange way, because the tres is a double-stringed kind of instrument, if I’m not mistaken. This gets 5 stars. I’m not surprised I got it. But once I figured out what the instrument was… I know Wes didn’t record on tres! I can make jokes. But I know that other people didn’t, so it has to be either the heavyweight guy or somebody I didn’t know. Beautiful music.

Definitely sounds like a real free electric guitar player, but somebody with a lot of chops. I don’t recognize… Wow. Twisted. I like it. I can’t tell from the content of what he’s playing who it is. [Do you have any idea of what it is they’re playing?] I may know it. I’ll listen a little bit more. That part sounds like a tune! There are a lot of guys I haven’t heard maybe that much. Could it be Vernon Reid? I don’t know. It’s too jazzy to be Vernon. Vernon would be more like Hendrix and Rock. This has that tone, but it’s obviously somebody who’s played… [It’s a West Coast player.] Now I know who it is. Nels Cline. Nels is the only guy I know on the West Coast guitar-wise who would play something that might sound like this. It sounds great. For my ears there could be a little more dynamics, but I’m not playing it. It maintains a real high density level at all times. Which I enjoy playing more than I enjoy listening to, I think. But I like it. It’s definitely got some harmonic knowledge and some lines that he’s using… I’ll give it 3 stars. [This is “Mars” from INTERSTELLAR SPACE] Oh, I would never get that!

Nice guitar tone. I like the tone. It’s over-driven, but in a nice sort of sweet way. I like that. That part sounded like something Scofield would play. Amazing technique. All these lines here are pure Scofield. Pretty pure. But the other stuff isn’t. He’s a funny composite of things, real blues-drenched, a great tone, some real heavy… Those lines didn’t sound… Super slinky technique. Amazing. Some of it sounds pretty original. He definitely sounds like a pastiche of a lot of different players, but amazing control. This sounds like Larry Young almost. Dr. Lonnie. I could tell by these sort of broken arpeggiated things he does that kind of go across the keys. That’s beautiful. Now I can guess on the guitar player, and it may be a wrong guess. Is it Paul Bollenbeck? I’ve heard Paul play things that are technically like speed of light. This guy’s got speed-of-light technique. Definitely 4 stars. [AFTER] Fiuczynski! He sounds amazing. He really does. It’s amazing technique. Great lines. Some of them directly culled from the Scofield vocabulary. Sounds great. Like I say, he’s a pastiche of many things. But he sure has picked some good things to put in his trick bag.

Another great guitar sound. I like this sound. This sounds a little more familiar to me. I think I know who this is. Is it Russell Malone? I heard this actually driving in a car one time, and I was so taken with the pretty sound he got… It really is a lovely sound. I distinctly remember it. When I first heard it, I wasn’t sure who it was, so it was like in a blindfold test. I was driving my car waiting for the announcer, and I was kind of going through my mind, and Russell’s name was one of the names that popped into my head. I don’t know his playing that well. I’ve only heard him on a couple of things, but this is the best thing I’ve heard him do with his tone. His solo is very bluesy, more than I’m used to hearing him play. Maybe he’s more of a bluesy player than I realize. I haven’t checked him out that much. Isn’t he from Georgia? I thought the solo was really good. The time when I did hear this record in my car, this is exactly the tune I heard, and I was struck not only by the sound, but by some really interesting parts in the solo that I wasn’t expecting. Because the solo has kind of a very laid-back, bluesy feel, and all of a sudden there’s these oddball notes and a couple of funny phrases. So I thought it was a very good solo, well-constructed and a beautiful tone. I’ll give it 4-1/2.

It’s an oud. There’s a couple of oud players I’ve heard, and one is the guy who records… I’ve heard a few. I brought back some music from Istanbul. But I can never pronounce this guy’s name. Isn’t this Rabih… No? Then maybe I don’t know who this person is. There’s a couple of guys I used to listen to. There’s a guy who records for ECM, Anwar, but he wouldn’t play this kind of stuff. This is more rhythmic; he’s more floaty, from what I’ve heard. Then there’s the guy that used to make the records for Enja years ago, Rabih ..(?).. This is what it reminds me of. I like the solo a lot, maybe more than the composition. I like the feel of the composition, but I like the sound of the solo. I like this part. It’s really open. It’s almost like a jazz player playing oud. But it’s not. It’s an oud player playing oud. It’s got a looseness to it, though. Makes me want to play with a pick again, hearing some of these fast lines. The solo was absolutely beautiful with the rhythm section. It’s so loose. It sounds like they’re playing in 5/4. It takes me a while to figure out sometimes what the odd time signature is, but I’m pretty sure it was 5, which is a very hard time signature to play in — at least for me. But it was so loose and so effortless. And the sound of the oud, it’s like one of my favorite instruments. It almost sounds like somebody took a classical guitar and tuned it down real low so the strings are really elastic. It’s really one of the warmest instruments. But this guy, I’m sorry I didn’t know him. Now I’ll have to go and listen more to him. 5 stars. It’s totally happening. I wish I knew him. Now I will know.

This almost reminds me of something I did years ago with Barre Phillips and John Surman and Stu Martin. I played on a couple of tunes on Barre’s record. The rhythm section sounded like this, kind of in time but really kind of wacky. This is kind of how I played back then! It’s interesting, but I wish it was a little more cohesive somehow. The rhythm section seems to be almost overpowering the soloist a bit. It also could be the mix. If you heard these guys play live, maybe it would be the opposite, or maybe it’s perfectly balanced, but it sounds a little more… The thing about this kind of playing to me is… Which is what I liked more about, say, the Blood Ulmer thing. Even though that was rambling and a little wacky, it’s clear somehow. It has a real cohesiveness. This doesn’t have that. This feels scattered, kind of. It’s not my most favorite stuff. It’s probably me! I have no idea who he is. I could make an educated guess. Joe Morris. Wow! I’m a good educated guesser. I like this, but for me it lacks the cohesiveness of the Blood Ulmer thing or maybe even the Nels Cline thing you played me. It’s in that same genre. Well, my band can no doubt at times sound like this! It sounds more balanced during the violin solo in terms of the actual sonic density of it. This is another kind of music that maybe I like to play a little more than actually sit down and listen to it. But because I play this way, I can appreciate it. It’s fun to play this way and they sound good. My educated guess for the violin player is Maneri. But I don’t know him. He sounds good. Now the music is starting to gel for me. Even though it’s more dense, it sounds better now. 3 stars. I like what they’re trying to do, but it doesn’t sound as cohesive as some of the other stuff to me.

I’ve got to know this. It’s probably a 7-string guitar. Very nice. Again, sometimes I go for the tone first. Even if I’m not trying to figure out who it, almost all the players… Actually, everybody you played me today has a good tone, in their own way. They’re all different, too. Every one of them had a completely different approach to the tone of the guitar. This sounds so familiar to me. It’s a very nice composition. It’s beautiful. I think I know who this is. I think it’s Kurt Rosenwinkel. I know this. This is from his second CD. This is gorgeous. I remember when bought this CD, and I liked the whole CD, but I remember when I got to this tune, I played it three or four times. I had to hear it that many times. This guy has got something that’s different. I don’t know what the tuning is. He’s definitely got the guitar retuned on the bottom on some lower strings. You can hear them… A very clear but warm tone. Again, I’m attracted to the tone, but he also is a very fluid, melodic player — lyrical, let’s say. He also sings when he plays. When I’ve heard him, he sings these little falsetto things. Sometimes he’ll actually sing the lines, and he’s not just playing some blues ideas. He’s playing some complicated lines and he sings with it. So the response to that is he actually hears what he plays! It’s amazing. This is a great composition. 5 stars all the way. Playing, composition…this is great.

Nice groove, nice atmosphere. It’s hard for me to tell who the guitar player is. The actual guitar playing sounds a little more mainstream than I thought it would sound hearing the rhythm. I thought the guitar player might play further out, but this is more in playing. Very sparse. He’s not playing a lot. Sure it’s not one of my records? No… What the hell was that? That sounded like an edit. I couldn’t tell; it was so strange. It’s strange, because most of what he’s playing is kind of straight, and then when he played these quirky lines, it didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of what he was playing. This is a hard one to even make an educated guess at. The tone is like a jazz guitar tone, a sort of brighter sound. It’s not my favorite; I like a darker sound. Well, that’s HIS sound. I shouldn’t comment. But it sounds like a big guitar with sort of a bright sound, like a big jazz box — or at least a medium-size jazz box. This one completely stumps me. 3 stars. Ernest Ranglin! Sorry. There’s no way I could get it. I know the name. Is he from Jamaica?

Acoustic guitar duo. Wow, he’s so astute! I like the way they’re breaking it up. The one guy is playing almost like a percussion instrument, tapping. The guy playing the solo sounds very blues-like. Good blues player. Mmm! I like this guitar player a lot. Whoo! I want to steal some of his lines. Impeccable kind of technique, but very bluesy at the same time. I mean, he’s not like somebody who I’d all of a sudden go, “Oh, that’s Wes or Kenny or Sco or Bill Frisell or Grant Green.” A lot of this kind of playing… I think it’s great. I totally admire it, and think it’s fantastic. But it doesn’t have as much of an instantly identifiable thing. It’s like amazingly great guitar playing. Is this the second guy playing now? I can’t tell. I think maybe it’s the second guy. It almost sounds like something I’ve heard before, but I can’t put my finger on it. I mean, it’s “Stompin’ At The Savoy.” I know the tune, but I don’t know the… Some of the other things you played me, I might know the player but not the tune. Here I know the tune but not the players. Is it Bireli Lagrene? Yeah, and there’s another guy on this. I’ve heard this before. I think this is the other guy playing, but I can’t remember who it is. Sylvain Luc. Okay. I may even have this. It’s amazing playing. I’ll give it 4 stars because it maybe didn’t sound as original as some of the other things, but man, I wish I had those chops.

Sounds like my train is here! I’d better run and get to the platform. It’s the 5:07; it’s in early. I’m trying to figure out if the instrument on the right is actually a guitar, whether it’s processed, or if the bass is being bowed… Derek Bailey? It’s a horn. Is it a horn? I can’t tell. Soprano saxophone? Then maybe it’s somebody like Evan Parker. No? Somebody whose name I probably know, but wouldn’t be able to… [He’s English] I figured he’d be a gentleman. I’m sure when I hear his name, I’ll know it. I may even have played with the guy, because I’ve played with some English musicians. This is the kind of thing that unless you really listen to this music a lot, it would be hard to tell. But it’s instantly identifiable as Derek Bailey…because he’s instantly identifiable! [LAUGHS] It’s the least guitar-like in terms of what most of the world thinks of as guitar playing, but I knew who it was pretty quickly, whereas some of the other things I wouldn’t know, especially when it’s amazing feats of technique. I’m impressed with that. But I know who he is when I hear him. So that’s kind of an interesting take on it all — style or being able to recognize somebody, even if it’s just abstract, in comparison to what you played before. I’m really nice today. I’ll give it 4 stars. I like it. He sustains a mood that’s kind of interesting. It’s like free playing that’s sort of… You can go on for a long time, because the density is not so dense as a couple of the other things you played for me, that are hard to listen to. It’s very quiet, it’s almost chamber-like, so you can listen to it and get inside it.

“Cheek to Cheek.” Again, I know the tune. We’ll see if I know the player. But this sounds like somebody, just from the outset, who’s a real traditionalist. Nice-a feel, like Lawrence Welk used to say. They’ve got a good feeling. This could be a lot of different people. Again, it’s not one of the major guys that I grew up listening to. It’s not Tal or Jimmy Raney, but it has that kind of sound. It sounds like a more modern recording. Nice. It’s someone who kind of bridges.. They’re a bebopper, but they’ve also got a swing kind of feel to it. Is it somebody like Howard Alden? It’s great playing. I just don’t know… It could be several different people. That’s why I mentioned Howard. But yeah, this is maybe a little more bebop than Howard, a little more Howard. This has a little bit of that swing feel. He loves the eighth note, and he manages to play just about every one. There’s a little space. It’s not somebody like Cal Collins, is it? There’s a lot of these guys whose playing I’m sort of familiar with, but I don’t really know them that well. [He’s not a Concord artist] Then I wouldn’t know him. If it’s not ECM or Concord, I’m screwed. It’s none of the guys I really know. And I don’t think it’s someone like Bucky Pizzarelli, because he doesn’t play this many lines. It’s not someone I know. It’s not Jack Wilkins. That’s a modern voicing. Wow! It’s got me stumped. I don’t recognize the bass player and drummer particularly. Everybody is good, but nothing is grabbing me. It’s funny, he sort of ends with something a little more modern, a little harmonically different. The other playing was pretty inside, in a way. It’s very good, but it didn’t strike a bell with me. 3 stars.